IMPHAL, November 7: My agitation against the draconian law Armed Force Special Force (AFSPA) for the past 13 year will be successful if all section of people march together hand in hand, said Irom Sharmila outside the court complex today after she was produced before the JMIC Imphal East Court for her routine appearance. She was further remanded to 15 days in judicial custody.
While interacting with various groups of people including the Maichou Lup Khurai, she stated that till today the state government has remained silent about repealing AFSPA for which they have been agitating for the past 13 years. If all sections of people of the state raise their voice in unison against the state government and the Act, then there will definitely be some positive outcome from the side of the government, she said
She further expressed her desire that the general public support her on their own volitions with their physical presence instead of merely showing sympathy to her struggle. She admitted feeling disheartened on noticing that people who were her supposed supporters were not even around to greet her during the periodic release from jail after completion of one year terms to show solidarity to her struggle.
She asserted that the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir listens to the voice of the people and had raised objections against the continuation of the Act on behalf of people and questioned why his counterpart in Manipur could not do the same. She wondered whether the state government’s indifference to the anti-AFSPA movement is after consideration of the huge amount of money spent by the Centre in the name of tackling insurgency. She alleged that in contradiction to popular expectation, the government is engrossed in planning to disunite her supporters.
She countered the policy of the JACs formed on various issues to disband themselves after receiving compensation from the administration and asked whether it will be morally correct to remain silent after getting the money as if money can replace a human life.
She further said that she wanted to utilize the money collected from various cash awards conferred to her to the people who are affected by natural calamities.
